I Love a Parade (GCC)

Welcome all Memoir members and anyone who should find this essay.

"And when it rains on your parade, look up rather than down. Without the rain there would be no rainbow."

G.K. Chesterton

I Love a Parade (985 words)

From the time I was a wee, small child I have loved parades, whether I watch them live or on the television. I grew up watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, The Rose Bowl Parade and the SeaFair Parade all on television, and we always went to the Fourth of July Pet Parade, the Strawberry Festival Parade and the neighborhood SeaFair Parades in person, on the street with our friends, family and neighbors. It was little wonder then that when we had our own son parades have been an integral part of our celebrations throughout the years.



There are a number of reasons why parades touch me so. First, is that they are usually colorful. They often celebrate a holiday or event. There are always cheerful clowns and other characters. My spirit is always roused by the sound of a good marching band and my heart swells when I see youth drill teams march with precision. That is why of all the parades I love, the ones I love the most are performed at Disneyland in Anaheim, California.




The first year I went to Disneyland was with The Househusband when we were just engaged. I was enchanted by Disneyland, but I was blown away by the nighttime parade called "The Main Street Electrical Parade." Floats were lit with zillions of colored bulbs, rousing tunes from Disney movies filled the night, all of the princesses and their princes were there, and of course, Mickey Mouse kicked it off. This parade made an indelible impression on my mind. That was the last year that parade was performed for many years. They brought it out of mothballs in the 90's and we were stirred once again as we stood in the warm night, awed by the brilliance of light and sound. It was magical.

We didn't return to Disneyland for twenty years, until our son was old enough to truly enjoy such an expensive endeavor, but it was so worth it. At that time, Disneyland was performing a parade in tribute to the movie "The Lion King."

There is one parade route in Disneyland-from the edge of Fantasyland all the way up Main Street, where the floats all get stored behind some of the buildings and then a return trip going the opposite direction several hours later. The entire route is lined with little holes in the street that are plugged with rubber disks. Before the parade begins, a crew walks along, pulling out the rubber stoppers with long pointy sticks and putting in stanchions that hold ropes to block traffic from crossing in front of the parade. Another crew follows along and as soon as the parade has passed an area, the stands and ropes are removed. This creates a safe environment for the time the parade is passing while allowing for the free flow of traffic as quickly as possible when it has passed.




Just before the floats arrive at each destination along the way, the loudspeaker comes on and announces the beginning of the parade. The excitement in the air is palpable as kids mill around in front of parents, hoping to get a good view and they are not disappointed. The parade moves by close enough for the performers to reach out and touch the little ones, making them part of the festivities.




In the Lion King Parade, all of the dancers were costumed as birds and animals. One of the gazelles handed our then ten year old son a rain stick and showed him how to make the needles inside shush up and down inside the stick to create the sound of moving water. The music was a stirring rendition of "I Just Can't Wait to be King" followed by "The Circle of Life." Rafiki stood on one of the floats and told a quick version of the story. As he did, tiny bird dancers shinnied up skinny poles set in similar holes as the ones used to rope off the route. The dancers swung out from the poles (hanging on by a foot and a hand or just a foot or a hand using leather straps) performing loops and twirls, going upside down, spreading their bodies out from the pole in the most amazing ways. Throughout, they moved in time to the music. The animal dancers on the ground also communicated the story with hand movements, and facial gestures. A flock of doves is set loose at the conclusion. The dance, story and music often moved me to tears. It was with great joy that we found a film of the parade (as well as one of The Main Street Electrical Parade) at one of the Disneyland stores the next year and whenever I'm down, I pop it in and play it again. That music has come to mean road trip for us and whenever we start out, the Lion King CD playing "The Circle of Life" gives us our marching orders each day we're on the road.





We've been back many times now and while our son attended USC in Los Angeles, one of his greatest joys was being a counselor at Troy Camp where USC students take kids from a neighborhood school up into the mountains for a week of fun and games. They mentor these kids for the next year and in the fall take them to Disneyland where our son told me he enjoyed watching these kids experience a Disneyland parade themselves; many for the first time. I believe those early trips to Disneyland influenced his decision to leave Washington for warmer climes when he was searching for the perfect college for him.





Yes, I love a parade. It stirs us to stand up straight, get involved in things bigger than ourselves, and enjoy life. We've enjoyed going with and without our son and look forward to the day we take grandkids to Disneyland for a parade.

© Susan K. Barton 2008

I've posted this in response to the Genre Creatives Challenge which is to write a documentary on favorite places and/or things we are planning to go or do, or have already gone or done with the kids.

If you liked this story, you might like to read some of my other stories which you can find by clicking on this link.